Today, April 24th, would have been the 100th birthday of Lou Thesz, perhaps the greatest champion of them all. To celebrate the occasion, we have collected a number of stories from other wrestlers about Thesz, who died in 2002.

WATERLOO, IOWA - Flipping through scrapbooks of years gone by, she was flooded with memories of trips to Japan, stories from the road and her adoration for three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz.
Charlie, Lou's widow, recently relived the ins and outs of her St. Louis native's life and career from their time together to B.C. -- Before Charlie -- in a cramped office space amid the hustle and bustle of the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame weekend.

Former World Champion Lou Thesz joined SLAM! Wrestling today to talk about his storied career, his thoughts on the current wrestling business, and about the newly-released
trade paperback of his autobiography, Hooker.
Thesz talked about many of the stars of yesteryear, from Ed 'Strangler' Lewis to Sailor Art Thomas to Stu Hart, plus he revealed his love of Canada (and really, who could blame him!)

It's been 10 years since we lost The Whip to a heart attack.
But how does one explain the appeal, the legacy of Toronto's William Potts, aka Whipper Billy Watson, to today's wrestling fan?
Well, by talking to a few fellow wrestlers who knew him, inside and outside the squared circle.

In our list of the Wrestlers of the Millennium, six-time world champion
Lou Thesz, didn't finish in the top three. It's unfortunate, but then
today's wrestling doesn't exactly cherish and promote it's past as
other, more legitimate sports do.
Thesz was recognized as the most influential NWA Champion in our fall
survey of the greatest NWA champions of all time. He was the perennial champion
from the '40s to the '60s, as the National Wrestling Alliance came into
prominence as the leading wrestling governing body.
Now 83, Thesz says that he is busier than ever.

Experts pick Flair as greatest NWA champ

It was 1948. War-torn South Korea dominated headlines. U.S. President Harry Truman had ordered the withdrawl of American troops from Korea. The Asian theatre was in turmoil. Who could have guessed that at the same time, the fate of the wrestling world was being inextricably changed forever in a hotel in Waterloo, Iowa?
On July 14 1948, St Louis promoter Sam Muchnick met with five other promoters in an effort to consolidate power. The promoters, in charge of six of the biggest territories in the Midwest, had reached an agreement. They would work together, exchanging talent and look out for one another against competing promoters who would encroach their fiefdom and dare to run opposition to them. They would control the destiny of the sport, essentially blacklisting any wrestler who didn't tow the line and abide by a promoter's wishes. They would promote their shows under the same banner, and recognize one world champion.